Question about CPU & a spec me

J.B · 13 Nov 2010 at 16:30

Hi guys, question/advice thread really:

Current system is a Athlon 64 x2 5200, Asus M2N32-Sli and a GTX 260.

I cant decide if to try the Beta BIOS and get a Phenom II quad core of some description for ~£100

or

Spend ~£300 to £400 on a new CPU/Mobo/RAM combo, if I do that whats worth getting? I was looking at the AMD x6 cores or an i5- i7s seem a bit too pricey for my budget

I know its all a bit vague but I guess the bottom line is can someone spec me a CPU/mobo/RAM combo for 300-400?

J.B · 13 Nov 2010 at 16:31

Ahh smeg, can a Don please move this to GH?
Thanks

95thrifles · 13 Nov 2010 at 17:50

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail £144.98
MSI P55-GD65 Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard with Free USB 3.0 PCI Controller Card £94.99
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £61.09
Titan Fenrir Evo CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1156/LGA1366/AMD K8/AM2/AM2+/AM3) £35.99
Total@ £337.05

J.B · 13 Nov 2010 at 20:07

cheers thrifles, are MSI boards any good? When I was big on building (admittedly) it was quite a few years ago some of the MSI boards were a bit flakey.

From what I've read on here most people seem to rate the intel chips over AMD at the moment?

95thrifles · 14 Nov 2010 at 10:38

Yeah MSIs good, little bit behind Asus and gigabyte but not a lot, my personal preference is Asus>Gigabyte>MSI but thats purely based on the way BIOSs are laid out, all good boards
Intels marginally ahead of AMD performance wise atm, but AMD still v good and also a little cheaper